Fighting Yowai
|image = File:Yowais.png |caption = Fighting Yowai with his sister, Totoko. |Row 1 title = Gender |Row 1 info = Male |Row 2 title = Family |Row 2 info = Totoko (sister) |Row 3 title = First appeared in}} Fighting Yowai is a minor character who briefly appears in the earlier chapters of Osomatsu-kun (Manga). He is Totoko's older brother. Overview At the time of Fighting Yowai's debut, the young pro-boxer Masahiko Harada had been one of the hot topics in Japan and had used the stage name of "Fighting Harada". For the creation of the chapter "We'll Do Anything in 6 Rounds", Akatsuka would have seem to have been inspired by Harada's upcoming ten round match against Edmundo Esparza. As fate would have it, two days before the chapter and magazine made it to release, Harada would lose his fight against Esparza and similarly, the fight the sextuplets would have against Knockout Tsuyoi would end in hilarious disaster. This character does not show up in any animated adaptations, aside from the offhand reference to him in the 1966 series' adaptation of "6 Rounds". Osomatsu-san itself appears to treat Totoko as if she were an only child (even with the reinstated Yowai surname and the PASH fanbook making reference to his existence in the original manga). Personality & Characteristics Appearance The first vague appearance of the character in the series only displayed his face on a poster, in which he had a black bowlcut like the sextuplets, squinted eyes, and a large round nose. However, in his formal debut, he was shown to be a taller young man with rounded features similar to theirs, but messier hair and freckles (or perhaps adult acne) clustered on his cheeks. He is seen to wear a white turtleneck and black pants, along with an overcoat. Even if there is a clear ten year age difference between the sextuplets and Yowai, Totoko believes they are otherwise identical in appearance and atmosphere to him, which necessitates her request for them to fill in for her brother. Personality Fighting Yowai appears as if he is a responsible older brother, to where Totoko inherited her strength and "Body Blow" from him, but is in fact a laid-back and foolish young man who lives at his own pace. He is seen as a timid boy by his parents, which plays into his father's anger about him going out of his way to refuse inheriting the fish shop. Even so, Yowai is shown to be rather unaffected by his upset father, and in Totoko's own observations, she remarks that her brother is notoriously stubborn and shameless. He is indeed one of the few people that cannot be swayed by Totoko, and disregards his sister's pleas and attempts to intervene with his idea. He also shows a bit of slyness in manipulating Osomatsu to let him board in his room, claiming that Totoko finds him the most charming of the sextuplets (a confused Totoko claims "I never said that!", but in the end angrily regrets that she ever did consider him charming). Ultimately, the sight of Matsuyo touches upon a weakness; though Yowai claimed he would no longer be the scared and foolish boy who'd rely on his mother so much, that "mommy's boy" nature proves strong and he becomes tearful and lonely over leaving her behind. In the end, he declares he's still really a child. Relationships Totoko Main article: Totoko As mentioned above, though Totoko is good at convincing others to do as she likes and can exert a strong will over them, she is powerless to do anything against her older brother's ways and he knows how to avoid any plotting by her. Father Main article: Totoko's Father He is not swayed by his father's anger or his ideas for what he should do with his life either, casually walking on out and remaining set in his way to "become an adult" his own way, which turns out to be living off of Osomatsu and the rest. Mother Main article: Totoko's Mother Seeing Osomatsu's relief and tears for his own mother triggers a similar reaction in Yowai, to where he hugs Matsuyo in place of his own actual mother as well. Before this, he is also shown to emerge from Osomatsu's room at the smell of a cooking fish, briefly mistaking it for her cooking and wanting some. Osomatsu Main article: Osomatsu Yowai seems to get along with Osomatsu the best of the boys, manipulating him into giving up against Totoko's order to refuse him a room. But due to Totoko's further anger, as well as Yowai refusing to leave his room, Osomatsu attempts to eject him by force (wearing a kettle over his head and a futon wrapped around his body). As Yowai is indeed still rather strong, this fails all too easily. When it comes to a battle of wits though, Osomatsu proves to win out in the end. History Fighting Yowai first received mention in the 10th chapter of the series, in being a young pro-boxer in the neighborhood whose family ran the local fish store. Totoko came to the sextuplets with the request that they fill in for him, as he had come down with a stomachache before the match. He would later be revisited in the series in January 1963, when a chapter dealing with his coming of age was released: After Yowai had that ceremony as well having turned 20 years old, he would attempt to go against his parents to become what he believed to be truly independent in living on his own. He was aware of any possible objections by his sister to this plan, and expertly deflected her attempt. Yet even through all that, his love for his mother and immaturity were stronger than any of his other aspects and he ran back home in tears by the end, wishing to remain with his mother for as long as possible. Trivia * His actual given name, if any, is never revealed in the manga, and he is only addressed as "Fighting Yowai-san" by Osomatsu when they meet. * As seen in the column notes for the original magazine release of "Mr. Iyami Gets Us Mad" (reprinted as part of the Completely Osomatsu-kun anthology), readers did express interest of wanting to see more plots with Totoko and her brother in the series. But whether due to Akatsuka's own disinterest, rejection by the editors, or the idea of stories centered around the siblings not fitting into -kun's gag shonen image, Fighting Yowai never showed back up in the series and the other Yowai family members were gradually phased out. * Even with the above in mind, a background character with an identical appearance to Yowai does show up briefly in the angered crowd in "Iyami's Ballet Recital". It is uncertain if his design was intended to be re-used as the man, or it just came out coincidentally similar. * Though he never did achieve any kind of relevance or appearance again in media, the Kodansha 1988 Laughter Land guide does mention an unnamed "pro-boxer" older brother for Totoko as part of her family, indicating his existence was still acknowledged to a small extent. Category:Male Characters Category:Minor Characters Category:Manga Characters Category:Yowai Family